An infantry brigade was training in the summer heat, learning methods to
counter offensive tactics. That summer, the area had experienced an
infestation of rattlesnakes. Officers and NCOs were given one magazine of
live ammunition to counter this danger, as several men had already been
bitten.

So much ammunition was expended shooting, supposedly, at snakes that the
post commander demanded that every officer and NCO who had shot at a snake
present the dead snake as proof that the expenditure of rounds was
justifiable.

The next day, the post commander entered his office and spotted a shoe box
on his desk. He opened it, revealing a sleepy and sluggish, but very live,
rattlesnake. Inside the box were twenty expended cartridges, and a short
note. The note said, "I missed!"

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